The sextant has a polished brass frame with a detached wooden handle. The clamping screw is mounted on a second silver arc on top of the frame. There is a milled knob at the end of that arc which provides slow-motion adjustment of the index arm. There are no shades. The index glass is not adjustable whereas the horizon glass is adjusted by a screw.

Attached to the sextant is a threaded telescope bracket which also can not be adjusted. The telescope is 63 mm in length with an inverted image and a green shaded eyepiece. The sight-tube is 44 mm in length. The sextant is contained in a leather-covered case that is decorated with stamped gilt flower motifs and lined with red velvet.

The instrument has a polished brass limb with inlaid silver scale from 0° to 120° by 1°, measuring to 119°. The sextant has a silver vernier measuring to 3 arcminutes, with zero at the right.